U.S. stocks surged on Thursday as better-than-expected domestic and Chinese data as well as a firming yuan offered some relief to investors alarmed by a week of blow and counterblow between Beijing and Washington over trade.

In corporate newsflow, Kraft Heinz sank 15% after it pulled its full-year forecast and wrote down the value of several business units by over $1 billion, capping a rough few months for the company and making it the S&P’s biggest decliner.

U.S. data pointed to a robust labor market as the number of Americans filing applications for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week, allaying some worries about a recession and helping U.S. Treasury yields rise.

That followed better than expected export numbers out of China and some improvement for the country’s yuan currency, whose slide over the weekend spurred Wall Street’s worst day so far this year on Monday.

At 11:13 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 161.46 points, or 0.62%, at 26,168.53, the S&P 500 was up 30.13 points, or 1.04%, at 2,914.11. The Nasdaq Composite was up 112.50 points, or 1.43%, at 7,975.33.

Source : Reuters